“Identity is cause;
brand is effect.”
Larry Ackerman
Brand can be a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of these elements that identify products or services of a seller. These elements differentiate the goods and or service from other sellers.
Branding is not only about getting your target market to select you over the competition, but it is about getting your prospects to see you as the sole provider of a solution to their problem or need.
The objectives that a good brand will achieve include:
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Clearly delivers the message
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Confirms your credibility
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Emotionally connects your target prospects with your product and or service.
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Motivates the buyer to buy
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Creates User Loyalty
To succeed in branding, you must understand the needs and wants of your customers and prospects. This achieved by integrating your brand strategies through your company at every point of public contact. Think of branding as the expression of who you are as a company or organization and what you offer. Sound difficult?
BRANDING
“However beautiful the strategy,
you should occasionally
look at the results.”
Winston Churchill
STRATEGY
Your brand is more than your logo, name or slogan — it’s the entire experience your prospects and customers have with your company, product or service.
Your brand strategy defines what you stand for, a promise you make, and the personality you convey. And while it includes your logo, color palette and slogan, those are only creative elements that convey your brand. Instead, your brand lives in every day-to-day interaction you have with your market:
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The images you convey
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The messages you deliver on your website, proposals and campaigns
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The way your employees interact with customers
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A customer’s opinion of you versus your competition
Branding is crucial for products and services sold in huge consumer markets. It’s also important in B2B because it helps you stand out from your competition. Your brand strategy brings your competitive positioning to life, and works to position youas a certain “something” in the mind of your prospects and customers.
Think about successful consumer brands like Disney, Tiffany or Starbucks. You probably know what each brand represents. Now imagine that you’re competing against one of these companies. If you want to capture significant market share, start with a strong brand strategy or you may not get far.
In your industry, there may or may not be a strong B2B brand. But when you put two companies up against each other, the one that represents something valuable will have an easier time reaching, engaging, closing and retaining customers.
Successful branding also creates “brand equity” – the amount of money that customers are willing to pay just because it’s your brand. In addition to generating revenue, brand equity makes your company itself more valuable over the long term.